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Athletes at Mizzou are in a special position. for a window of years while in college, they capture our hearts and imaginations with strength, skill and grace. They inspire Tiger fans to cheer and chant, filling arenas, stadiums and parking lots with echoes of M-1-Z, Z-0-U! Some go on to high-profile professional athletic careers - such as *Unas Kleiza, AFNR 'os, of the N'BA's Denver Nuggets or **Justin Gage, AFNR '03, of the NFL's Tennessee Titans. Many, however, spend a majority of their careers involved in non-athletic endeavors. For five Tigers spread across five decades, their career paths could not be more diverse.

STORY BY MARCUS WilKINS

38 II1Utl SUMMER 200, z Gridiron disciple n his playing days, Larron j;.ckson was a 6·fOOt·3. 25r pound behemoth who opened space 0 for Mh:.zou running backs. Almost 40years !Jter, he still leads with his strength. l/) Afte.r grJdu;~ting from MU, Jackson went on to earn his doctorate at United Theological I j ~m inary in Dayton, Ohio. He founded hnernational Agape Ministry in 1992. 1t helps churches ~ j optimize resources toward assisting the community, orwhJt he calls ..s trategic planning." In "' May 2007, ) ~we would address any number of issues, from people not getting pro~r health c:tre to u. z creating access to health care and dca.ling with vio1cncc, drug addiction and school dropouts," ~ M "'j .... M "' "' jJckson explains. .... "'.... Touro is the city's only nonprofit, faith-based hospit.d. "'0 z ;: '"Since I had a heart for the dty, the question for me was, 'How do you begin to effect change in some of the most difficult environments ;uound the country?' • says Jackson, who I; ~ ~ "'z grew up in inner-city St. Louis. 0 In 17 years, Jackson's minisuy has taken him from Camde.n, N.J., to Denver, where he spent most of his NF'L career playing for the Broncos. Bec.mse of the stroggling economy, handing for 0:: his work in NewOrleanswas cut, but Jackson is using the time to work on a book. Tht Ghetto, 0:: I •· W tht Gridiron and tht G05pf'f: A}oomey in God's Gract. -..1.- ln the book's .. Gridiron" section, Ji.lckson teUs the story of his time playing for MU Coach <( • Dan Devine. Jackson apprec:iated the way Devine coached players or different backgrounds. ....J "' He was a steadfast man o( cha.rJcter,"' Jackson says. '

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Vl UJ ·o l!) 0. ... < ... "w 0 < l:...... "' H w "z Bridges to success ~ ,.. "Ill ... iger (;ans remember J,rince Bridges ;as the slick-passing. athletic point gu~rd who 0:: .,< "0 u;~nsfcrrN from Tyler (T~s} junior College to Mb;z.ou In 1981 Mi.s.sourl )(U.rtd all the .," (.) w~y to No. 1 ln the polls that se.uon. while Bridges dished .uslsts to scoring ltgends co ... < T Ill ::E md Jon Sum'Oid, BS BA '8]. .. Steve StiP"nO\ich, 8£$ ·s,. .. 0 l: Briel~ now owns tht lusk

401111111 SUMMER 2009 UJ Thole's goals .....J "0 "'~ s Mlz.tou soccer's Jll·time le.,ding scorer. Nikki Thole has ample t.xperic •~ce pursuing > gools. Now she spends much of her time helping St. Louis youngsters Jchieve theirs. "IU 0 0 "IU As sports super.,isor (or the city of Des Peres, t..to .. since 2005. Thole runs youth 0 .. A 0 0 ::> spons leagues and clinics. and some adult kicl N "' genera1,•1·hole says. "Thls is a perfect match for me.'" t- ...' 0.... In (.\lllooS, Thole helped coach a 9-and U>·year-old boys-and-girls soccer team in RoUa, Mo. .... Thole stil)'S Jctive herself, but ha.,. had to overcome sevtral injuries to do so. After four knee "' H ~ ~ ... ~ ~ "' surgeries. one on her ankle, and another on her shoulder. she's had her share of pain. But the bom a.thJete put it bf!hjnd her for the Go! St. Louis Marathon on April 19, running ~ and w.1lking to complete the race. '"J did karate for four or five years after I got out of college - and co

SUMMER 2009 IIIZIII41 MISSOURI BASEBALL

Vl Charley the champion LU D 0 harle.s Wesley J<~mes W<.lS a nvo-sport standout during his playing days at MU. but most z ~ 0 people remember a more glamorous highlight on hJs athletic resume- il World Series < < ~ championship. ~ ~ C ~ .... "'... After an injury forced James to pursue baseball instead of football. the hard-hitting out· < z z <( w 0 fielder signed a minor-league conttact with the Buffaloes in the spring of 1958. He "'w "' u ... was playing for Charleston, W.Va .. in the American Association when he re- "' w hot, Jnd the)' called me up to St. Louis."' "'... LU u The Cardinals' 1964 roster feoatured HJll of F.1mers Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. james and w _J ~ the Redbirds beJt the New York Mets on the final day of the 1964 regular season to win the ~ ~ Isw NJtional teague pennant and went on to defeoat the in J se\'en-game World Series. 0::: )Jmes. 71, played for MU football coaching legend Don Faurot and his baseb.lU counterp;ut, <( Hi Simmons. Both left an imprcssiOI\ on the Missouri nJtive from Webster Groves. James

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Tiger in the tundra "0 riginally from rural Moose Lake, Minn., Dianne Berg was inducted into the MU VI VI Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1007. After earning her doctora.te in counseHng psychology from the Univers-ity of ..."' 0 0 Illinois, Berg joined the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota in 2001. a! VI

It is an outpatient spccialtyple deali.ng with compulsive sexual behavior, trans· ~ .. ~ 0 ... 0 gender transWozling, sex--offender treatment or other sexual issues. > z .. In the program. Berg works with some of the leading rese.archers in the field. "' < < .. The convers.'ltlons I h.we with my co-workers i&re conversations most ~ople would lJ.J never h;,we in their lifetime,• Berg says. "'But the coolest part of it is th

Berg and her partner, Suzy Messerole. have 01. •·year·old daughter named Solvei. "She's very into art. She gets her sdssors and paper, makes collages attd then tells us 0 what she's made,'" Berg says. ~shr goes through tape Like you wouldn't btlieve." 1!1

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